XPI Simulation, a Thales company specialised in training and simulation solutions, passed the critical design review for 28 driver training simulators for the AJAX vehicle programme lead by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). This is a key milestone of the programme considering that manufacturing can now begin.

In December 2014, XPI Simulation announced it had won the £20m project to produce 28 driver training simulators for General Dynamics Land Systems – UK to be delivered to the MOD in support of the AJAX vehicle programme. A mixture of static and full-motion simulators for training drivers on all six variants of AJAX are being developed. The programme is the first of its kind in the UK; use of the ‘six degrees of freedom’ simulator has not previously been used within the British Army Land environment.

The simulators’ modular design is based on proven in-house technology which can be adapted to support other vehicle types. This meets the customer’s aspirations for reusable and reconfigurable training simulators and is the first solution to follow the MOD Defence, Training and Education Coherence (DTEC) rule set, incorporating approved standard interfaces.

Manufacturing of the simulators will now begin with the first delivery due in 2017. This contract requires specialist engineering skills in training and simulation and, in addition to sustaining employment, has created twenty new roles within Thales whilst also having a positive impact on the UK supply chain.

Simon Skinner, Managing Director of XPI Simulation Ltd, said: « Reaching this milestone has been a true team effort. The excellent design work by the XPI team to get to this stage will provide the MOD with the best Armoured Fighting Vehicle driver simulators available. XPI are looking forward to delivering the first of 28 high-fidelity systems in 2017.